Note: This article is the fourth in a series examining wild turkey decline in Arkansas and turkey habitat changes.

John Gallagher is a 1976 graduate of Arkansas Tech University with a BS in Fisheries/Wildlife Management. He began working for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in 1977 and retired last year.

He has worked in most areas of the state but spent most of his career based out of Russellville, working in the Arkansas River Valley on wildlife management areas (WMAs) and supervising the WMAs as a wildlife biologist.

Kevin: In my last article, state forester Joe Fox explained a TNC study showed that out of a slice of 3.4 million acres in south central Arkansas, it is estimated 1.4 million acres has been harvested and converted from natural pine stands to pine plantation from 1973 to 2004; so there is a good chance that that somewhere around 30-40 percent of the Big Piney woods has been converted to pine plantation. Is pine plantation bad habitat for turkey?

John: It is better than no habitat, but I tend to believe a monoculture of any kind, whether it’s pine or farm/agriculture crop monoculture, is not the most productive wildlife habitat; but pine plantation is still good nesting habitat. Turkeys will nest in the thicket.

Diversity of habitat is really important, but turkeys range more than you think. Just to give you a documented instance of how far turkeys will range, back in the 80’s when we did the Ozark turkey study, Kiah Gardner caught some gobblers and put radio collars on them at Page Hollow, which is about halfway between Dover and Sand Gap. One of those gobblers summered every year on Lee Mountain, which is just north of Dover. The gobbler would go back to Page Hollow in the winter. As a turkey walks, that’s about 15 miles.

Kevin: Based on the figures from Joe Fox, only a small portion of the state has been converted to pine plantation. In your opinion, does timber cutting and conversion to pine plantation explain turkey decline in the state?

John: No, but it does affect local diversity, and therefore local habitat, and in turn turkey numbers. Pine management has changed rapidly and has almost become a row crop in the state. The only saw mill in the area, that I’m aware of, that cuts anything bigger than 20 inches (diameter of large pine sawtimber) is Bibler Brothers (in Russellville), so pine management is going to smaller and faster rotations.

Kevin: When would you say were the high population years for turkey in Arkansas?

John: The late 80’s is when the population was the highest in the Ozarks, but in 2003 the state turkey harvest numbers were the highest since 1960. There are far more hunters in the woods now than there were in the 80’s, contributing to higher kill numbers. Part of the reason, also, for the high harvest numbers was the long 39 day hunting season that was allowed that year.

Kevin: Are predators also causing population decline?

John: I don’t think you can put your finger on any one thing causing turkey decline. It appears to be a combination of factors. It’s not the timber cutting; I’d like to see more timber cutting in the Ozarks. When you go out into an overstory forest like we have in the Ozarks and you get out on the ground, there is not much appreciable cover for a turkey to nest in, so a hen is very susceptible to nest predation. And when you only have a limited number of open areas to raise broods in, then those areas become target areas for all the predators to focus on, both avian (hawks) and ground predators.

One misconception out there, that people have in general, is that predators that eat the adult turkey are the cause of decline. If the turkey is old enough to fly, they can get up in a tree out of the way, but the eggs, in particular, and poults are most susceptible. Ground predators, raccoons, foxes, skunks, and coyotes, once they learn how to hunt nests, become good at nest destruction. I have also seen quite a few bobcat kills on turkey over the years. Every turkey hunter out there knows the destruction coyotes can do.

Let’s look at this year in the Ozarks. We’ve had a tremendous mast (acorn) crop in the Ozarks. The turkeys that are up there should be in great shape because of the food. The potential for a very good hatch is there, but only time will tell if it happens. The weather could turn bad, or any of a number of other events could cause a hatch failure. That is why I am habitat oriented. Better habitat improves the chances for a successful nesting season when other factors are not quite so favorable.

One of my pet peeves, though, is the Bearcat Hollow project. There is 60,000 acres of intensive management on national forest, and then 30 miles away on other parts of the forest, there is very little going on for turkeys. I would prefer to see this acreage spread forest wide to impact more of the entire turkey range, instead of a relatively small area compared to the forest as a whole.

I think we need to manage habitat on a wider scale. Twenty-five years ago the AGFC had a much larger, more active presence on the national forest. Today we have very limited presence and limited interaction with the USFS. AGFC has moved away from cooperative efforts. I think this is a mistake, because we are looking at 2.5 million acres of USFS.

The AGFC is responsible for wildlife management on all of the state by a constitutional mandate. I am not talking only about food plots. Food plots are the least important thing we can do up there.

The AGFC needs to be working with the USFS to manage wildlife habitat, especially in the cutting areas.

The potential to manage habitat cooperatively is tremendous, and currently not enough is occurring, in my opinion.

The only thing biologists can do is recommend the length of the hunting seasons and work to improve habitat.

If you have questions you want to ask regarding turkey habitat or want to read past articles, please email kevintuckfield@gmail.com.